Yuka Hirata as Juuken Sentai Gekiranger's Mele, Master of the Rin Juu Chameleon Fist Style
Tokusatsu is an avenue for new actors and actresses to have an acting career since hey, what better way to start a career by becoming a superhero... or a super villain! Aside from giving us actors like Joe Odagiri and Takeru Satoh, it also served as an avenue for actresses to have a career as a gravure model. It also served as an avenue for gravure models to have an acting career and this, my friends is what this post about.
Sayoko Hagiwara in her younger years.
The involvement of gravure with the tokusatsu genre can be traced back during the late 70's and 80's. Actresses during that I know are also gravure models are Michiko Makino aka Pink Five (which ended her acting career), Sayoko Hagiwara aka DynaPink and later, Ley Neffel and Naomi Morinaga best known as Space Sheriff Shaider's Annie.
The 90's also have a couple of actresses ending up having their own gravure. The first thing that I can think of right now is Reiko Chiba best known as Ptera Ranger Mei and as far as I can remember, she recently posed for Japan's Weekly Playboy magazine.
Left: the cover of her first gravure; right: some pic from one of her photo books
Thanks to the advent of the internet, it is easier for fans to Google images of their favorite tokusatsu actresses, which eventually end up landing on some of their gravure photos. That is why I was surprised back then when I landed on some of Naomi Morinaga's gravure photos since I didn't expect Shaider's partner to have those photos since hey, she is a heroine in a superhero show and parents don't want their kids to become bikini models in the future!
It is also thanks to Google that I was able to notice a pattern on newer Super Sentai shows. Starting with Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, it seems like it is a requirement for the heroine of the franchise to release a photo book or if they can do it, have a gravure photo book and an idol video. Some actresses have their gravure book based on their color in the respective Super Sentai series she is in. A perfect example is Ayumi Kinoshita's Yellow Sensation as Ms. Kinoshita played Marika "Jasmine" Reimon aka DekaYellow in Special Police Dekaranger. Because of this, it served as an avenue for some new actresses to have a gravure career once the run of her Super Sentai series is over.
From left to right: Ayame Misaki, Mikie Hara and Makoto Takeda
As for the opposite of it, some gravure models see tokusatsu as an opportunity to expand their horizons and in this case, it's with acting. Because the companies who are producing these superhero shows tend to hire up and coming actors, gravure models tend to use this opportunity. Yui Koike, Yumi Suguimoto and Yuka Hirata are some of the recent examples of those gravure models that used tokusatsu as a way for them to expand their acting prowess.
Outside the Super Sentai franchise, a couple of gravure models are also in the Kamen Rider franchise. Japan's Queen of Ass, Rina Aikiyama appeared in Kamen Rider Agito and in Kamen Rider Den-O wherein there was one scene where they featured her firm looking ass. Kamen Rider Hibiki had a couple of gravure models as support characters for our heroes. Nana Akiyama played the Oni (Rider) apprentice to Kamen Rider Ibuki and classmate to Asumu Adachi, one of the protagonists of the show.
Lucky Shotaro and Philip.
Kamen Rider W also had a couple of gravure idols as guest stars and most of them are clients of our hero detectives, Shotaro Hidari and Philip aka Kamen Rider W. The ones that I can think of right now who made guest appearances in the said show are: Yuuri Morishita, Nao Nagasawa, Yuka Hirata and AKB48's Tomomi Itano and AKB48's Tomomi Kasai.
Outside the Kamen Rider franchise, shows such as Cutie Honey: The Live stars Mikie Hara as Cutie Honey as she fights the evil Phantom Claw organization. Since the live-action is based by a manga created by Go Nagai aka Manga's Dirty Old Uncle and one of the pioneers of the ecchi and mecha genre, the show is filled with a lot of gravure models. In addition, the live-action Sailor Moon series featured a couple of future gravure idols.
Also, she did this badass video of a possible movie that needs funding.
So what happens most of these actresses that end up doing gravure? Nao Nagasawa, best known for her role as Nanami Nono aka Hurricane Blue in Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger, had a couple of roles in Japanese dramas as a support character in the 2012 GTO drama and a badass gunslinger in the live-action Sengoku Basara TV series that stars Gackt. In a recent interview, she revealed that aside from doing roles in JDrama, she is also into theatre.
Some of these gravure models also end up becoming anime voice actresses; Ayumi Kinoshita played the role of Aki Izayoi in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's while her fellow co-star in Dekaranger, Mika Kikuchi ended up as Mokona's voice actress in Tsubasa Chronicles and just recently, Risa Yoshiki has a minor role in the Fairy Tail movie.
So the next time you Google images of your favorite tokusatsu heroines, please don't be surprised if you see pictures of them in their bikinis or doing suggestive poses because it means that they at least did one gravure book or once posted for a gravure magazine.
